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Her pace quickened as they went deeper inside the building, and as her legs moved faster so did her heart; it was almost as if her body couldn't wait to go forward. Mai Lee knew what she wanted, or rather, what she was expecting to be down there. At the bottom of the area stood a large door, metal, it held a simple lock from their side one that only needed to slide to the side to be opened; and so she slid it.

The door opened, locking sliding to the side, and she pushed it forward, it took a bit of strength but it did budge.
There were a ton of cages, iron bars that went from the ground to the ceiling and in them were prisoners. Some of them held a single person, but the majority held two or more. "M...mom." Mai Lee rushed forward, ignoring all the other prisoners as they looked up at her. She went to a single cell, falling to her knees as she grabbed upon the bars. "It is you, it is! I knew it, I didn't doubt it for a moment!" Her breathing became rapid as her palms dug into the bars, her body almost shaking from excitement. A figure was in the cage, draped in blue cloth with symbolic waves on it, and upon hearing Mai's voice the figure turned. "Mai Lee." Her mother's smile was soft, just as she had remembered, but her face looked ragged - worn - as if she had taken a beating to last a century. "I told you not to bend." The old woman's hand stretched forward and tapped Mai Lee's cheeks, cupping it in her palm. "I knew it, I knew it was you." "Sh-Sh-Sh." Mai's mother coo'd softly, patting her daughter's cheek as she did so. "You're free, not in a boat anymore." Mai Lee's voice had calmed, but still her breathe was heavy as if she had run. "As soon as I came here and saw you, I left it."
Her mother pursed her lips together, frowning as she let a sigh go out through her nose. "But you broke laws Mai Lee, laws." Mai's eyebrows had furrowed together, seeing that her mother was no longer peaceful and smiling, but quickly her mother's face changed back. "But you're free now, so go. Go to another place and stay there, stay safe."

"Ha. Ha ha ha. What are you talking about? I'm going to get you out of here, come on." A forceful laugh came out of the girl, as a bewildered look sprawled on her face before she frantically stood. "There's earth in metal, I'll just, I'll bend it that's all." Mai Lee grew frantic again as she tried to pull the bars apart, but her mother placed a hand on her leg. "Mai Lee, I cannot leave." This stopped the Avatar, causing her to look down on her mother. "What are you talking about? Of course you can, I'll get you out don't worry, I'll get you out okay?" Mai Lee slid back to the bottom, looking her mother in the eye as if she was playing some cruel joke upon her daughter; but her face was serious - not smiling but still. "I can't leave everyone else here, they've helped me, we've helped each other."
Mai looked around, seeing the other prisoners cradle their loved ones or pushed their bodies to the back of their cells, quickly she looked back at her mother - psychotically. "That's stupid, who cares? We're going, we'll go to a refugee camp, they'll help us, we'll stay hidden. And-And this time I won't bend, I promise." Slowly Mai Lee's demand became more of a begging plea, she looked into her mother's eyes as she spoke, but her face didn't change. "Mai Lee, you're a good daughter, you've done well for me and your father - plenty. So now listen, go, run, and don't come back."

Mai Lee's mouth parted just a bit in disbelief, and her hands slipped down the metal, until she tightly gripped it as she looked at the floor. "No. No! I came here for you! I came here, I came here all for you!" Her breathing became sporadic, looking back up at her mother with tears, begging for her to go. But her mother's face was so stoic, not budging even for her only child. "Go on Mai Lee, I'll be fine. Go live your life, stay alive."
Mai Lee let go of the bars, standing up. The whole cell room was silent, the entire time her mother was still, and only Mai Lee was screaming, begging for her mother to go with her. Mai put her hand over her face, then her other one as her shoulders shook. From upstairs a bang could be heard, her mother looked from the ceiling to her daughter, and the rest of the inmates murmured. "Mai Lee, leave now." Her tone was harsh, but Mai couldn't hear her mother anymore, just the sounds of her own whimpering.

Mai Lee's shoulders shook, till they stopped, and her head lifted up, her arm rubbed across her face from side to side harshly, and she breathed in and put it down by her waist. "Listen up! Everyone of you." She screamed, making sure that all the prisoners heard them. "Pack your belongings! No...Leave everything but yourselves here! We are leaving, all of your are leaving! And you will start anew elsewhere!" The prisoners voices grew louder as they talked among themselves, and Mai turned, walking to the couple who had been following her since the beginning. "Mai Lee Shao, what do you think you're doing?" Before advancing toward the duo she glanced at her mother, "This time, I'm not going to listen to you."

Mai Lee's gaze went back on the red haired couple, walking toward them till she got close enough to bow. "P-Please help me set them free, and I shall reward you ten-fold."

Mai Lee stood back up, her hands in fists and her cheeks brushed with a light pink shade. She frowned a bit deeply and looked away, looking back at the people who began murmuring among themselves quite a bit. "Well crap, how are we going to get a boat full of people outside without getting noticed, and take them somewhere for refugee's?" One hand slapped onto the top of her head, fingers curling in her hair as she grew frustrated. There was another bang heard from above the ceiling, and the whispering prisoners became quiet again. "The hell is that?" Mai's head looked up, and she frowned deeper than before, this time her expression was displeasure instead of embarrassment. "It's the weapons ward, right above." Mai turned her torso, twisting it so she was able to look behind her. A small boy, no older than fifteen had spoken up, getting onto his knee's as he talked to the Avatar. "They keep all their weapons in the room above." Mai Lee turned and looked at the boy full on this time, "And, they must have some kind of transportation mechanism up there right?"

"You mean a hot air balloon?" "They also have an airship!" Mai Lee looked around the room, hearing more voices speak up to an audible volume, and they began conversing with themselves. "A hot air balloon, and an airship." She sighed, the hand that was still in her hair had released a bit of the tension it was holding, but now her fingers were massaging her head as she thought. "An airship would be able to hold everyone, but it takes a lot of work to get up in the sky, not only that but it's big, but the defense is a good one. How many do they have?" She looked back at the boy who had spoken up to her this time, but he shook his head, not knowing the answer.

"I suppose we should go for the airship, it has the strongest defense." Mai Lee scanned the room, the majority of people were older, or appeared to be at least, but most of them could shovel coal in the airship. "Alright, let's get everyone out, as quiet as we can. Everyone, back against the wall." Mai Lee picked her first cage, taking practice on the young boys. She faced it and crouched, breathing in deeply as she closed her eyes, for a moment she held her breath then expelled it, fire coming out from her nostrils. "We'll have to melt the bars. Be careful not to burn anyone." Her legs were stanced a bit apart, hands going flat as she brought them up to the level of her chest, and a quick jab went through the air, fire expelling from her fingertips as it spread in the air horizontally. Mai melted a thick line across the top of the bars, and then she did the same to the bottom, going forward a bit she kicked it in, the weakened bars easily caving in till they fell to the floor. "Good, did it without burning him, onto the next one." She stood moving onto the next cage but not facing it from the front as she did with the boy's, instead she positioned her body parallel to it, so she could see the other cages, her hand becoming a fist this time as she punched in the air. Her fire melted the cage's bars that she was closest two, and the bars next to that one. Two cages, not bad I suppose. Mai thought utilizing her ability to it's fullest would have been better, she was already pretty tired from running away from guards, and she would need all the energy she could get later on.